(Photos from this trip are located here)
I think we can officially say that this is now an annual trip on our travel calendar! May 2024 marked the third year in a row that we’ve offered this tour and we’re already planning next year’s trip. The itinerary is identical each year (but flexible, of course!) because it’s so well-liked. It’s a week packed with great food and drinks, breathtaking landscapes, and, in many cases, visiting sites only seen in books and movies until now. It also includes a full week staying in one place – the same beautiful villa just outside the charming town of Lucca, in Tuscany. Staying in one place for the full week continues to be an anomaly format for Europe Your Own Way since we usually tend to move around and cover more distance. The benefits of staying in one place are obvious though – unpacking just one time, the ability to wash and dry clothes during the week, and the feeling of being “home” every evening after our excursions, to name just a few. We continue to offer those trips that take us from place to place and cover lots of ground. However, based on the success of this format, we are looking at offering more of these extended villa stays – in Tuscany but also, potentially in other locations as well! Puglia and the Amalfi Coast have both come up as potential options. If you have an interest in a villa format tour in either of those places (or others), please reach out! We customize itineraries all of the time! And, as always, stay tuned for additions to the calendar!
Overview of the week: As in the previous years, seven fun-filled days at the villa with excursions pre-arranged for each day for those interested in participating (which everyone did this year): Pisa/Lucca, Siena, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano (with a cooking class held at a beautiful winery/vineyard), the Chianti region, and of course, Florence. Also as in the past, we had the luxury of a chef on-site at the villa (actually 2 this year!), who served up some amazing meals!
Pisa/Lucca: This first day is always the perfect choice for an excursion a bit closer to “home” as we adjust to the time difference and recover from the travel. Our visit to Pisa was short but allowed enough time for the group to climb up that famous tower. We also made sure to take a few of the classic tourist pictures holding up the Leaning Tower. Next stop included free time for lunch in Lucca and a guided walking tour that unlocked the history of the town for us. A great way to start our week!
Siena: This beautiful, medieval town in the Tuscany region is famous for its shell-shaped main piazza and the traditional horse races (“Palio”) around that piazza. Once again, our private guide gave us a fantastic walking tour of the city and explained the subtleties of the unique Palio event! The group even picked our own animal representing our “region” (as is done in Siena for the race) – of course the natural choice was a Buffalo!
Cinque Terre: These are the 5 famous seaside towns on the Ligurian coast, known as the Italian Riviera. We spent the 10 days leading up to this excursion watching the weather and, as of that morning, we still weren’t confident that the trail would be open since there had been rain (and there were threats of additional rain). But we worried for nothing and ended up with the perfect weather (not too hot/cold and no rain!) for our exploration into the national park for the most famous section of the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) hikes – Monterosso to Vernazza. We finished the trail in a very respectable time of just under 2 hours – not bad considering the obligatory stops for photo ops along the way. Bravo Team!
Hiking the Cinque Terre
Cooking Class and San Gimignano: For today’s excursion I organized a cooking class once again expertly run by our very personable chef, Dante, with a cameo from the wine consultant (Luigi) who conducted our wine tasting event in the US just a few weeks earlier! The class took place at a family run vineyard which has grown (and continues to grow) enormously to the point of beautifully handling many simultaneous cooking classes but still providing the feeling of a cozy private session. Dante very wisely moved our class under a tent when he noticed a few dark clouds heading our way, avoiding the mad dash that would have taken place had we stayed outside. He taught us the basics of Tuscan cooking and pasta-making, which was much simpler than one would have expected. Our efforts resulted in our delicious lunch along with a generous pairing/tasting of the winery’s award-winning wines! From there, we were dropped off in San Gimignano where we spent a few hours of free time exploring the narrow, hilly walled town and, of course, gelato tasting.
Florence: Capital of Tuscany, and justifiably one of the most visited cities in Italy. We spent a full day in this gorgeous city, with our time spent how we chose. The group enjoyed a private walk around the city with our fantastic guide for a lively and very informative tour, including a visit to the Accademia Gallery, famous for housing Michelangelo’s incredible original statue of David. Then, we had free time to explore, shop, and eat. Many of us also took the opportunity to find one of the famous “wine windows” located across the region, for the unique experience of receiving our wine glass as was once done during the Plague.
Experiencing a wine window!
Chianti region exploration: What would a visit to Tuscany be without experiencing the olive oils and wines of the Chianti region?! This excursion was such a great finale to our week in Tuscany. Since all 3 of these treasured locations receive such fantastic response from our guests every time we visit, we chose to repeat the exact flow this year. We started at an estate that produces amazing olive oil – it really has the tastiest flavor and they do such a fantastic job of incorporating the olive oil into the least expected products, such as chocolate and hazelnut spreads, body lotions, and soaps! Our midday visit included a tour and tasting at an organic farm that produces the most wonderful balsamic vinegars and amazing wines, and pairs them with the most delicious local specialties. And we ended the day at a private estate for some wine tasting along with a sampling of local specialty finger-foods.
This was such a fun trip, once again, with another amazing group that just gelled so well and has now become part of my travel-family! If it sounds like something you would enjoy, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We already have plans to repeat the week next year in Tuscany, and would definitely consider a week at a villa in another region of Italy as well.
And, as always, if there’s a different route you’d like to try, anywhere in Italy, France and/or Switzerland (or beyond), I would be happy to come up with a custom itinerary! Please make sure to check out some of the images from this trip in the website photo gallery!